


Shipwrecks & Other Treasures

by ChangeGirlYuki



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Merpeople, Alternate Universe - Reincarnation, Diver Eren, Diving, Gay, Gay Eren Yeager, Getting Together, Human Eren Yeager, Kissing, M/M, Modern Era, Secret Crush, Shipwrecks, Underwater, against all odds they meet again, ereri, memories of a past life, merman levi, odd meetins, riren - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-18
Updated: 2020-12-18
Packaged: 2021-03-10 23:07:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,619
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28155084
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ChangeGirlYuki/pseuds/ChangeGirlYuki
Summary: Eren is the only one in his friend group who truly remembers their past life, aside from Armin but the blonde just remembers bits and pieces. When his friends gift him with a diving course, Eren is happy to finally explore his beloved ocean more. On his latest diving trip, he finds something at his favorite spot he didn't thing existed - a merman. And, what are the odds, said merman (who's hurt btw) turns out being Levi, his old Captain and crush...What's the former Titan shifter going to do now?
Relationships: Levi/Eren Yeager
Kudos: 57





	Shipwrecks & Other Treasures

**Author's Note:**

> Ah, it's been ages since I wrote this ship. But I missed Eren and Levi and when I had the idea for this, I just had to write it out. Who cares if it took all night?
> 
> On another note, I have no idea about diving, so if anything about that (or anything else) is wrong, feel free to leave a comment so that I can improve and correct it. 
> 
> \- Have a nice day!

Shipwrecks & Other Treasures

*Disclaimer: I don't own Attack on Titan. No money is made with this, I live off kudos and comments. Enjoy!*

The water was pleasantly warm and clear, even with how deep Eren had dived by now. Everyone had been surprised at first, seeing as Eren loved visiting the ocean yet had never gone diving in it. It was true, he had been swimming in the Atlantic more times then he could count, yet he hadn't learned how to dive. A shame, really, if you considered how much he’d wanted to go to the ocean in his previous life and finally got the chance to do so to his heart’s content. Mikasa and Armin had gifted him with a diving course for his birthday and here he was – his first dive after passing the final tests and getting his license. And if it wasn't for the snorkel in his mouth, he would have squealed in excitement. This was the best gift ever. Finally Eren got to explore his beloved ocean more.

While Armin and Mikasa where busy collecting shells and other stuff from a riff somewhere nearby, Eren swam off to visit his favorite spot in the area. Sure, he wasn't supposed to go alone, it was very dangerous go to diving on your own. But Eren had always been kind of reckless and had been called suicidal more often then not. It wasn't that he wanted to worry everyone or get hurt, it was more him acting first and thinking later. And with classes starting back again the coming week, Eren figured that this was going to be his last chance in a while before he would get to visit the shipwreck. 

~*~*~

To be honest, the shipwreck wasn't exactly a shipwreck anymore. It must have been a pretty large thing some time ago, but all that was left at this point, were a few planks and parts of the ship's body. There was mostly sand and plants covering it, but with the sun shining through the water, everything looked like out of a movie and kind of enchanting. It was peaceful and calm, it was fascinating to see nature take over as soon as humanity left. Eren wondered what had happened to the walls and all the places after he had died. And he wondered about everyone he hadn’t met in this life again. What about Sasha and Connie? Marco? Jean? Erwin and Hanji? And, even though he wasn’t keen on admitting it, what had happened to Levi? The man had been a role model, a guardian, maybe even a friend. At least officially. But for Eren, Levi had been much more. Levi had been the man he had wanted to be with, to kiss and to hold, to share his life with. Not that he had gotten a chance to tell him so. And now, Eren didn’t know if he would ever get to see the other again or if he did, if Levi would remember or care about him. Again the snorkel kept him from sighing deeply. 

Making his way closer to the shipwreck, Eren wanted to take a seat on his favorite rock formation close by and just enjoy the view. However, something distracted him when he got there and that was something he had never expected to see. There, hidden in the shadows of the shipwreck, was something on the ground, looking very much like a large tail. The tail of a shark. While Eren knew that a shark on the ground much likely meant that it was dead (they need to keep moving to breathe), the young diver still kept his distance. Maybe he should go back to his friends… but then the tail moved slowly, but not slowly enough for it just having been caused by the current. Against better judgment, Eren swam closer, peeking into the shadows of the ship’s body and… let out lots of bubbles of air in shock at what he saw. 

There, on the ground was lying something that could only be described as a merman. A merman with a shark’s tail, gray fins and long black hair. Said hair was moving in the slight current, blocking the sight of the creature’s face. And being this close, Eren could see why the merman was on the ground and trying to hide. There, on the side of his tail right by one of his fins was a long bleeding wound. Blood was slowly but steadily oozing into the water and while it was not much, it was enough to make Eren nervous. Because the merman was hurt and the blood would attract other predators. But what could Eren do? Until now he hadn’t known that something like merpeople existed. How was he supposed to help? And if he tried, would the merman even let him?  
After watching the unconscious merman for another while, Eren slowly sank lower, getting closer and closer to the other. Looking around, he tried to find something to bandage the wound. Maybe some kind of alga would work? 

Suddenly though, the merman moved and within a rush of limps, whirled up sand and air bubbles, Eren found himself pinned to the ground right where the merman had been. The creature was holding him down, sharp teeth bared and silver eyes glaring at him. More blood was in the water around him, caused by the movement. Eren struggled to keep his breath, fearing that the attack might have cut off his oxygen supply by ripping out a tube from his tank. But when he found that he could still breath, he tried to calm down as much as possible and stared up at the presumably mythical merman above him. The black hair was hovering around the pale skinned face now, revealing a sight that took Eren’s breath all over again.  
This wasn’t possible, was it? No way! Wide green eyes stared up at the other as much as silver ones stared down at him, equally blown wide in confusion and shock. Gills fluttered on the pale neck, sending some more bubbles up to the surface while Eren stared at Levi. Because there was no doubt that this merman was Levi. His former captain and Humanity’s Strongest. The love of Eren’s past life. And from how Levi stared at him, the glare and aggressive posture long since gone, he recognized Eren as well. 

Slowly, merman Levi let go of Eren’s wrist but neither of them moved. That is until one of Eren’s diving fins brushed against Levi’s tail and caused him to flinch in pain. Concern overpowered the excitement and shock the young diver was in and he started gesturing for Levi to come up to the surface with him. Levi shook his head, eyes still wider then usual. His movements where also growing slower, now that the adrenaline was leaving his system again. Eren made the gesture for ‘shark’, just for Levi to bare his teeth again. But he was hurt and Eren couldn’t let him stay here and die. Not when he had just found him again! So he offered his hand and motioned for Levi to come somewhere save. If he remembered correctly, there was an underwater cavern not too far away from here. Checking his tank, Eren made sure he still had enough oxygen to make it there. Levi looked uncertain but after a long moment, he put his long elegant fingers with sharp claws for nails and webbing between them into Eren’s bare palm.

~*~*~

It took Eren longer then he would have liked to get Levi to the cavern. He needed to make sure neither of his friends saw and followed them. At the thought of what kind of trouble he was in for swimming off on his own, Eren shuddered before pushing the thought aside. Levi had priority now. But said merman wasn’t exactly a lightweight and even though it seemed like he did his best to help Eren, he still slowed them down. And then there was the issue of lacking orientation. While Eren knew most of the area from his diving classes, he hadn’t swam from one location to the other like this before.

Somehow they made it to the cavern. There were a few rocks peeking out of the surface and an air bubble with a connection to the outside so that fresh air could get in. It was pretty tiny though so when Eren sat Levi down onto one of the rocks and broke the surface to get some fresh air, there wasn’t much space between them.  
For a moment, both of them just stared at each other again. Levi’s head poked out of the water just a bit, his black hair clinging to his head with its wetness. Eren took off his mask and snorkel, putting it on a nearby rock.  
“Hey…”, he said, not sure if Levi would understand him. Did merpeople speak English? But Levi nodded, a small smile tugging at the corner of his mouth. He looked younger then Eren remembered and much more at ease even with the wound at his side. Right, the wound.  
“I saw some alga outside of the cavern. Do you think they would be a good bandage?”, he asked and, when Levi nodded, Eren put on his mask and snorkel again before diving out through the small entrance to get some of the alga. With Levi’s help, he managed to wrap them around the merman’s tail, covering the while wound. Up close it seemed like Levi had cut himself somewhere, it looked like a tear not like a bite wound. When Eren was done with his bandaging, he was glad to see no more blood seeping through his handiwork. Swimming upwards again, he broke the surface and sat down on one of the few rocks himself, taking off his mask and snorkel once more.  
“How does it feel?”, he asked, watching Levi’s reaction.  
“Feels better. Thank you”, Levi answered, his voice rough and sounding like he hadn’t used it in ages. And figured, merpeople most likely communicated differently. But hearing his voice again, after all this time, send shivers of excitement down Eren’s back and he had to force himself not to cry. Now that Levi’s wound was taken care off, tons of questions came to Eren’s mind again. And he didn’t see why he should hold back any longer.

“Do you remember me?”, Eren asked the question that burned on his tongue the most. There was that small smile again and Levi nodded.  
A shaky laugh escaped Eren’s throat. “What are the odds. Both of us getting reborn and now you’re the mythical creature.”  
Levi rose one of his black eyebrows. “For me, you’re the creature, brat.”  
And oh, that form of address did things to Eren. Shifting on his rock, he avoided the look from silver eyes for a moment.  
“Have you met any others?”, Eren asked then, looking back at Levi who seemed pretty comfortable on his rock now.  
“There’s Hanji and Erwin, Mike, Isabel and Farlan. We’re a small shoal with just two others. But neither of them remembers”, Levi answered slowly, raising one hand to play with the water between them. His clawed fingers came very close to Eren’s chest.  
“Same. I’ve found Mikasa, Armin, Ymir, Annie and Historia, but only Armin remembers a few bits. He thinks its just pieces of a nightmare or something though.”  
Levi chuckled darkly, the noise sounding almost like a growl. “Lucky bastards, aren’t they?”  
“Yeah…” Eren sighed. Sometimes he wished he wouldn’t remember either. It was hard to keep track of what was reality now on the bad days. But then again…

“But I’m glad I remember you.”  
The black eyebrow rose again. “Me? Why would you be happy about remembering me? The things I did to you…”  
Sadness and regret filled those beautiful eyes and Levi looked as if he was about to scream or cry. Or punch the rocks around them.  
“It wasn’t always good, that’s true. But you still cared about us and you were the one I looked up to. I was always happy when you came back from a mission in one piece. Besides… when my Titan form became public, it was only thanks to you that they didn’t kill me that very moment. You saved my life more times then I can count afterwards too.”  
Levi didn’t look convinced but he shook his head and huffed, a strange noise coming from his gills. “I guess we’re even now.”

The way he phrased it made Eren’s stomach form knots. This sounded way too much like a goodbye. But they had just found each other again! Before he could think about it, Eren reached out and grabbed Levi’s hand from the water between them, holding it against his chest now.  
“Please, don’t leave me again. I just found you!”, he begged, green eyes wide and pleading. Levi looked taken aback, yet he didn’t pull his hand away.  
“You… Eren you’re human. We can’t be together anyways. Its a strange coincidence that we even got to meet in this life.”  
“I don’t care. If I have to live in this cave forever I’ll do it if it means I can stay with you!”, Eren declared and did something even more reckless. He leaned in as fast as he could and pressed his lips against Levi’s, claiming them in a kiss. 

Levi’s skin was rough, but warm and not as wet as expected. Eren was careful not to get hurt by the sharp teeth, seeing as the merman had opened his mouth in shock. For a while, Levi was stock still, but then his arms came up and wrapped around Eren’s waist and back, pulling him even closer and kissing him back with gusto. Eren’s heart fluttered and he sighed happily into the kiss. Maybe this was God making it up to him in this life, he didn’t care. He was too happy to be reunited with his crush, to kiss him and being held by him. 

“Eren…”, Levi breathed when they parted again, silver eyes filled with emotion and lips flushed pink from their little snogging session.  
“I’ve always loved you, Levi, even before I officially met you”, Eren confessed, keeping their eyes locked. The raven merman blushed, shaking his head some.  
“You’re unbelievable, brat”, Levi said with fondness in his voice. But he leaned in and stole another kiss from Eren and then another and another. And Eren eagerly kissed back, his heart pounding in his chest, ready to burst.  
“I’ve always loved you too, Eren.”

~*~*~

After that, Levi and Eren met up as often as possible. Levi was happy to learn how life on the surface was now and Eren was eager to learn more about merpeople and the sea. It surprised Eren’s human friends quite a bit when he declared he wanted to become a marine biologist, but he stubbornly worked for it. A few years later, he had achieved his goal and with his new job at an aquarium, Eren moved into a specially designed house by the coast. It had a hidden underwater entrance and a large pool on the inside as well as on the outside so that Levi and him didn’t have to meet up in shady corners by the beach or in that small cave, but got to spend time together more often in Eren’s home. Eren also got to meet Levi’s friends some times and he was happy to see his former comrades alive and with all limbs attached. It was a long and hard way, but together, they made it work. And it was so worth it!

~*The End!*~

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading my little fanfiction. I hope you enjoyed it. If so, I'd be happy if you would leave some kudos and or comments ^^  
> \- Yuki out


End file.
